Cornerstone’s Nutrition Education and Gardening Programs

Understanding where food comes from, how it grows, and how it fuels our bodies.

Our Mission...

The mission of Cornerstone’s Children’s Nutrition Connection is to improve food equity for children and families in underserved neighborhoods by improving food access and to empower the community to make sustainable lifestyle changes through nutrition education

Colorful logo for 'Cornerstone Children's Nutrition Connection' with text in orange, purple, red, green, and black on a white background.
Four people working together in a garden bed with young green plants, under a blue sky with some clouds, trees, and a church steeple in the background.
A group of young people gathered outdoors around a table filled with blue bags containing leafy greens. They are smiling and posing for the photo, with a building, trees, and a grassy field in the background.
Brown paper bags with green labels on a wooden table outside, promoting fresh vegetables at a community garden in Tampa, Florida.
Raised garden beds with leafy greens and herbs, surrounded by palm trees under a blue sky.
A girl with glasses, wearing a gray shirt and khaki pants, is kneeling in a garden and holding freshly harvested carrots with green tops. The garden has various green leafy plants and a trellis structure. It is a sunny day.
Group of about 24 people gathered in a garden planting area outdoors, with a school bus and houses in the background.
Kale plants growing in a garden bed with a pink plant marker labeled 'KALE'.
Two women standing in a community garden, holding a bowl of harvested green beans. They are smiling and wearing summer clothes, including hats and sunglasses, with other people working in the garden in the background.

Children and a woman working in a vegetable garden with green leafy plants, white picket fence, and houses in the background.
Logo with cartoon vegetables and text 'Coming Soon'

Cornerstone's Community Garden

Established in 2017, our garden provides a sustainable food source in the midst of a food desert neighborhood while building community through service, nutrition education, and inspiring families to take control of their health!

We encourage people of all ages to join us in the garden! Not only will you get to learn about growing your own food, but you will have the opportunity to grow and harvest fresh produce for those who cannot afford it.

Become a Volunteer

A colorful logo with the words 'Cornerstone' and illustrations of a girl reading a book, a person with a paintbrush and palette, and a person with a tablet, representing education and creativity.

Cooking With Kids

Cooking with Kids encourages children to learn about nutrition and healthy habits in a way they can understand. It provides an engaging and hands-on 12-lesson program for the childcare centers under Cornerstone’s Childcare Food Program sponsorship. The lessons are geared for 4–5-year-olds and utilize the curriculum “A Dozen Ways to Be Healthy” published by the Florida Department of Health. During these lessons, the children participate in fun activities to understand the overarching theme of nutrition and health while also creating nutritious snacks that get them involved. This program is for both the student and the teacher. Upon completion, the center will receive a copy of the curriculum. The teachers will be equipped with the understanding to teach the lessons to future students and to enrich the center with nutrition education. 

In partnership with…

  • USDA and Team Nutrition

  • Florida Department of Health

  • Hillsborough County UF/IFAS Extension

Children and adults sitting at picnic tables outdoors, preparing and eating a meal with lettuce, vegetables, and ramen noodles, in a backyard with trees and a white fence.
Children preparing and eating salads outdoors at a long wooden picnic table during a daytime gathering.
Two young girls sitting at a wooden picnic table outdoors, one smiling and eating watermelon from a bowl, the other looking down at her bowl, with slices of watermelon and a small bowl visible on the table.
A young girl with dark hair tied back, wearing a pink and white t-shirt with rainbow graphics, eating a bowl of sliced peaches with a spoon at a wooden table.
Two young girls sitting at a picnic table outdoors, smiling and eating slices of watermelon. One girl wears a pink tank top with a pineapple graphic, and the other wears a white t-shirt with long braided hair. Other children are seated nearby, and there is a grassy area and white picket fence in the background.
Children sitting at a long picnic table outdoors, having a snack, with two adults supervising and serving. The setting is a backyard with trees and a white fence.
A young boy holding a plate with a spring roll at an outdoor gathering with children and adults around a wooden picnic table.
A young boy smiling and holding a paper with pumpkin drawings and educational messages about eating pumpkin and its health benefits.
A young boy with dark hair wearing a blue Nike t-shirt sitting at a wooden table, chopping a yellow fruit or vegetable on a white cutting board in a classroom or daycare setting. Other children are sitting at similar tables in the background.
Book a Cooking With Kids Experience

Logo with words promoting childhood education and health, featuring 'Cornerstone Cooking With Children Heroes' and 'Empowering Health Through Education & Access.' Includes logos for Florida Health and USDA.
Corpsstone logo with colorful text 'Cooking With Families' and a message about empowering health through education and access, featuring icons of a house and grocer.

Cooking Matters for Families and Childcare Centers

Cooking Matters is a best practice nutrition education program through Share Our Strength that is sponsored in the Tampa Bay area by Cornerstone. Cooking Matters teaches participants to shop smarter, use nutrition information to make healthier choices and cook delicious, affordable meals. Each 6 week course is team-taught by a volunteer chef and nutrition educator and covers meal preparation, grocery shopping, food budgeting and nutrition. Adult and child participants take home a gift card at the end of each class so they can purchase groceries to practice what they have just learned at home. During the course, participants also have the opportunity to participate in a grocery store tour, which provides hands-on education as they shop for food, giving them skills to compare foods for cost and nutrition.

Cover of a guidebook titled 'Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals' featuring four smiling children holding food items against a yellow background.
Cover of a cookbook titled 'Cooking Matters for Families,' featuring a woman and a girl cooking together, and a man preparing food in a kitchen.
Book cover titled 'Cooking Matters for Parents' with photo of smiling woman and girl, and another woman and boy cooking together.
Register for a Cooking with Families Class

Ways To Serve

  • Volunteer at the Cornerstone Community Garden on Tuesdays from 9am-11am and every second Saturday from 9am-11am

  • Be a garden champion! Engage your group or business to sponsor one of our garden beds

  • Donate food vouchers for families to use at our Groceries-on-the-Go mobile grocery truck

  • Volunteer to help facilitate Cooking Matters, Cooking with Kids, or a garden field trip

  • Volunteer to help facilitate a week of summer camp

Become a Volunteer

If you are passionate about helping children and families improve their health and investing in initiatives to improve food access in food desert neighborhoods, check out ways you can serve alongside us in our mission!

Children and adults gather around a wooden picnic table outdoors, eating slices of watermelon and cantaloupe.
A teacher standing in front of a small group of children sitting at tables in a classroom. The teacher is observing as a woman in a blue shirt takes a photo of herself in a mural on the wall, which depicts a cityscape with buildings, clouds, a pond, and trees.
Four women and one man are in a backyard, holding hands and forming a circle around a raised garden bed with young plants. One woman is wearing a red shirt and a gray cap, and another woman is holding a blue wheelbarrow. They are standing next to a brick wall with a green fence in the background during the daytime.
Group of people holding hands in a circle outdoors on grass, participating in a prayer or team-building activity, with residential buildings and palm trees in the background.
Group of children and teenagers planting flowers in a raised bed against a brick wall.
Group of people harvesting kale in an outdoor garden on a sunny day.
A boy in a blue t-shirt, shorts, and glasses pushes a wheelbarrow filled with freshly picked vegetables and greens in a garden, with a white picket fence in the background.
Woman standing behind an orange table at an outdoor community event, with a blender, cups, and informational flyers, in a neighborhood setting with houses and trees in the background.
A young girl with a braid, wearing a white tank top, denim shorts, and a multicolored headband, is holding a paper bag and looking at a large aloe vera plant in front of a pink stucco house. The house has a white door, a window with metal bars, and the street number 1717 is visible.

Get involved with our Nutrition Education and Gardening Programs today!

We welcome individual and group volunteers in our Community Garden on Tuesdays and second Saturdays from 9am-11am.  Contact Kim Lemasters at 813-281-1269 ext. 230 for more information! – 2801 N. 17th Tampa, FL